Patrick Gauthier | Director, Playwright, Freelance Writer

8 Books in 8 Weeks

July 4, 2011

I don’t read.

Well, that’s not entirely true. I read all the the time – news, articles, comic books, plays, books on directing and theatre – but I haven’t sat down and read a book book (either fiction or non) since probably last summer, when I read the fantastic Pictures at a Revolution. This is something that should be corrected, and seeing that I have a, uh, relaxed schedule this summer, I decided it was time that I caught up on some reading. Because while I don’t have much time to read books, I sure do buy a lot of them. My goal is eight books in eight weeks, with week one starting Monday, July 4.

So far, my list consists of:

Bossypants (Tina Fey)

In Praise of Slow (Carl Honore)

Havana Nocturne (TJ English)

The reasons: I have a huge crush on Tina Fey. I read In Praise of Slow five or six years ago and it’s due for a re-read. Havana Nocturne has been sitting next to my bed for months.

I need five more books. However, there are some rules to this. One of the remaining four books has to be something on my shelf I haven’t read before. One needs to come from my Amazon Wish List. One needs to be a “classic” I have never read and another has to be an e-book (Bossypants was going to be the e-book, but then I thought it was something I would want to share, so I nixed that). And one needs to be a suggestion from friends. Which is where you come in.

If you could recommend one book (and only one) that I should read, what would it be?